No Amazon seller ever sets out looking to get it wrong — like everyone else, they want to minimise the learning curve and get on track as much as possible. But at RepricerExpress, we understand that’s not always the case and it’s a scant few who’ll be hitting grand slams straight out of the gate minus any Amazon mistakes. Here’s a little list of mistakes we’ve noticed merchants making, and how they can fix them in their favour.
Prices Are Set Too Low
This is something we typically see with new Amazon sellers. Because they’re so new to selling online, they don’t really have a solid concept of how everything works and how to set prices to keep a profitable bottom line over the long run. While buyers love rock-bottom prices, they’ll all too soon come to expect them and won’t shop with you otherwise. Plus, you’ll get a reputation for only selling inexpensively priced items, which may be mistaken for cheap products.
How to avoid this mistake: Do your research before selling on Amazon. Merchants have to take into account what the product price is composed of, which includes Amazon’s commission, your labour and either Fulfilment by Amazon or your own shipping and handling costs. Using repricing software is one of the easiest ways to avoid this mistake.
The Wrong Code for the Wrong Product
Yikes — there’s no other reaction to this kind of mistake than yikes. It’s a huge problem on your hands and can lead to consequences like being suspended by Amazon. It can also be something you’re not even aware of until a buyer leaves a scathingly bad review on your page, or Amazon gets wind of it and tells you, in no uncertain terms, to smarten up.
How to avoid this mistake: It’s one of the easiest ones to let slip by, especially if you’re selling many products. Going through all your codes and making sure they match up to the right products is a tedious process, but it’s a necessary part of selling on Amazon. Set aside some time biweekly or monthly to do this. To motivate yourself, just think of the possible consequences if you put a cheaply-priced code to a more expensive version of the same product and how much money you could be losing.
Having Blinders on to Only Amazon
It goes without saying that RepricerExpress are big fans of Amazon. They’re one of the biggest and best known sites in the world, and founder Jeff Bezos seems to pull a new rabbit out of his hat every year. Hitching your wagon to Amazon is always a very good thing, but there’s also a risk in putting too many eggs in one basket. It’s not that there’s the danger Amazon will fold any day now, but that you’re simply not casting your net widely enough.
How to avoid this mistake: You know how merchants will take advantage of Amazon Product Ads so their items feature on Amazon’s pages and buyers can click directly to their sites? You can do the same but going the other way, advertising on other big-time sites like eBay. Incorporate this into your long-term game plan so you can maximise sales wherever possible.
Taking Shortcuts on the Marketing Process
It’s easy to think that once you upload your inventory onto Amazon, the site’s size will take care of all the details and buyers will be tripping over themselves in a rush to get to your page.
It doesn’t work like that.
You could be in competition with just a few other merchants over one item and lose out every time if your marketing strategy sucks and you don’t give shoppers a reason to look twice at you.
How to avoid this mistake: Write concise and informative product descriptions starting with the most important and working your way down, and research into what keywords will be most recognisable to buyers.
Thinking a Bad Review is the End of That Case
There’s not a single high-level seller on Amazon who has a perfect reputation with no bad reviews. The longer you sell on Amazon and the more products you have, the higher your chances of encountering a person who just won’t be happy with you. But it’s how you deal with it that makes the difference.
How to avoid this mistake: Think back to your school days and how there was always that one student who couldn’t leave their marks alone. No matter if they got an A or a D, they had to go to the teacher and quibble over every single point. And you know what? It works. It may not make the biggest difference overall, but getting that extra mark or two can be enough to tilt you over into the next level. On Amazon, this means responding to customers’ emails and questions and contesting Amazon when you feel something wasn’t your fault (like sending out an item close to the deadline but getting marked down because you shipped it out late).
RepricerExpress knows how easy it is to slip up and endure the costly consequences, but pricing your wares doesn’t have to be one of them. Let our repricing software take care of all the details for you so you can watch your sales zoom, letting you focus on smoothing out the other edges of your business. The sooner you sign up, the sooner you can get started, so check out our 15-day free trial now.
